


This or That?

by malfoysdyad



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: "Choose for your soulmate..." + "Your soulmate says:", Ben is a fuckboy mess, F/M, Gingerrose - Freeform, High School AU, No Smut, Rey is a smart-ass, Reylo - Freeform, Rivals-to-Lovers Trope, Soulmate AU, Soulmate-chooses-for-the-other, Stormpilot, They're all high school seniors, rivals-to-lovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-24
Updated: 2020-07-24
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:34:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25491706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/malfoysdyad/pseuds/malfoysdyad
Summary: What would you do if your soulmate had the ability to make choices for you?That's what Rey Niima's still trying to figure out, after she found out in an extremely awkward and agitating detention that she's one-half of a soulmate pair. It certainly threw a wrench into her perfectly-planned year, but it couldn't be a bad thing....right?Wrong.Not only it is the worst thing that could ever happen to her, but her supposed other half is the last person she ever wanted to be tied to: Ben Solo, "ladies man" and fuckboy extraordinaire. The same jackass who thought smooth-talking her during said detention was a smart idea. The same boy she's hated since middle school.What were the odds? Not in her favour.And it's even worse than she could imagine. Not only can neither of them get along, but their consistent quid-pro-quo game of getting even means every choice they make only embarrasses or inconveniences the other; negotiation and maturity have both left the chat.Now the real question is: how is she supposed to get through senior year like this?
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo
Comments: 11
Kudos: 25





	This or That?

**Author's Note:**

> Rivals-to-lovers soulmates??? In high school??? Given the ability to make choices on behalf of their soulmate??? 
> 
> I mean, just because I graduated high school in May doesn't mean I can't write about it ;)
> 
> This was heavily inspired by this tweet: https://twitter.com/bookhoes/status/1285081959136399360?s=20
> 
> A huge thanks and hugs to my soul sis Ellie (@judesnova on Twitter) for sending me that particular tweet and creating what has to be my favourite thing I've ever written :)) and to my dyad Batsy (@bvstila on Twitter) for making the gorgeous moodboard that I can't stop fawning over :)) I love you both so much <3 
> 
> To see the moodboard and more of my content (including two textfics that I will be updating soon), follow me @malfoysdyad on Twitter!
> 
> Anyways, that's enough from me. Enjoy!

“Miss Niima, whatever conversation you’re having with Miss Tico, I presume it’s more important than the classroom rules?”

Rey glanced up at the grouchy man giving her a stern look from across the classroom, trying to hide the sour expression that was threatening to plaster across her face. Ol’ Ackbar: the worst teacher in Coruscant High. Every kid dreaded being shuffled into his class; everyone called him “Plan B” because no one wanted to take his classes unless they were absolute forced to. And why would they? Not only was he the worst out of all the world history teachers, but he was older than the building itself and made the back dumpsters seem like a fresh haven with how he neglected to educate himself on basic hygiene. 

The irony: the educator can’t educate himself of the basic social construct of taking a shower. This, along with the fact that he treated every student he had like they were incapable idiots, was the reason why no student liked him. 

He was correct though. Her discussion with Rose on where they’d be eating their celebratory “you-made-it-to-senior-year” dinner was a little more important than a review of the year’s syllabus. In fact,  _ anything  _ would be more important than the nonsense the old fart was spewing out of his mouth. He was a  _ senior homeroom  _ teacher. Homeroom: the one period that half of the class never showed up to anyways. Besides, who the hell needed to review rules for  _ homeroom? _ They had already suffered through 3 years of their 4-year sentence in this dump, so why was he already hellbent on trying to ruin their final year?

Biting back a snarky remark, she settled for a sickly sweet, “No, Mr. Ackbar.” before plastering a matching smile on her face. Around her, she could hear the rest of the class quietly snickering at her passive-aggressiveness towards the history artifact by the whiteboard. And she knew he didn’t buy it; his eyes narrowed directly at her and he gave her another warning look before he said “Very well.” and went back to going through the bulletin lists on his syllabus. 

When he was once again occupied with reading the same 15 rules that were already hammered on every nook and cranny of the building, she turned to Rose, sucking in her cheeks and pretending to throw up. Rose quietly giggled and returned the gesture with her own version of gagging, and Rey had to pinch the inside of her thigh to keep herself from laughing out loud; no need to give the museum display another reason to single her out and find every opportunity to make her year miserable. 

Three rows ahead, someone wildly gestured at her. She looked: Poe. Poe Dameron, her childhood best friend and the second brain cell of their quartet. 

A grin popped up on her face before she could even help it. She didn't even know that Poe was in this homeroom; she was too busy saving a seat and hoping that Rose’s schedule wasn’t a fluke and that she was actually in homeroom with her. She felt like she had won the lottery, knowing that two of her friends were sorted into the same homeroom as her. Thank god. Maybe it wouldn’t be that bad now. 

She was lucky: sharing a homeroom with them was the only peak of her schedule this year. Since she had decided to follow the footsteps of her former caretaker, Maz, and pursue a liberal arts degree to become a writer, her schedules conflicted far too much from her STEM-tracked friends. Her smart friends, who seemed to excel in everything (unlike her). It worried her, because sometimes the company was the only thing keeping her out of trouble. Yeah, they all had lunch together and she’d be over at their houses more than she’d go home, but she was essentially alone in all of her classes.

Awesome. Wow. 

In her mini-moment of self pity, she didn’t notice that her phone was buzzing in her back pocket. It was only when the kid behind her leaned forward to whisper, “Can you shut your phone up?”, did she even remember that she had her phone in her back pocket. 

Giving the person behind her an ugly look, she checked her phone. 

**Poe: what are the odds that we all ended up in the history museum with the incan artifact**

She smiled. Poe was the only one who truly understood her hatred for that man. 

**Rey: the same one as a dinosaur fossil coming alive and being qualified to teach high schoolers**

**Poe: the jurassic park remake and he’s the star dinosaur**

**Rey: crisp rat could never**

She could hear him snickering from three rows up. Unfortunately, he snickered a little too loud and caught Ackbar’s attention, which caused his head to snap right up from reading the syllabus. 

For an old dude, he had really sharp eyes and observation skills with the way he called Poe out that fast. 

“Mr. Dameron, would you like to read out loud to the class the text message that you find so amusing that you chose to focus your attention elsewhere?”

Almost on cue, the entire class turned to look at Poe, waiting.  _ Asswipes,  _ she thought as she glared at Ackbar, who seemed to be enjoying putting a student on the spot. Disgusting. And honestly? Shame on the kids in her homeroom too; every one of these fuckers knew that Poe had major anxiety issues and didn’t take too well with the wrong kind of attention or being put on the spot for anything; even the faculty knew. And yet here they were, doing the one thing he hated most in the world. 

“Well Mr. Dameron? Would you like to give us the honour of hearing what was so funny? Or should I read it out loud for you, along with confiscating your device for the rest of the day? I clearly stated in my syllabus that I do not allow devices in my homeroom, as you would have known should you have chosen to pay attention instead of wasting away your time on your device or chattering away. ” Ackbar said in a demeaning tone that she didn’t appreciate at all. 

She had to say something to put this man in place; she didn’t care if he was a teacher or not. No one spoke to her friends like they were lowly flecks of dirt on the ground. 

Someone poked her arm. Rose. She turned to her to see her mouth,  _ Don’t, you’re already on his bad side.  _

_ I have to,  _ she mouthed back.  _ He can’t speak to students like that.  _

Rose shook her head,  _ No you don’t. I’m mad too, but I’m not going to provoke the hibernating mummy.  _

_ Maybe he shouldn’t be picking on a student that he knows has major anxiety issues.  _

_ Yeah I know but what can you do? _

_ I can think of a hundred things off the top of my head. _

_ What can you do that’s not illegal?  _

Well, shit. That was a really good question. Any of the pranks that popped up in her mind would guarantee  _ at least  _ a suspension. 

“Mr. Dameron, your classmates and I would appreciate that you don’t continue to waste valuable time. You can either read the message out loud, or take my offer of having me read it for you and losing your device.” 

Then she remembered: her greatest weapon was attached to her 24/7. 

_ Watch me,  _ she mouthed back, before raising her hand ever so casually. 

Surprisingly, that caught Ackbar’s eye, who, by miracle, stopped tormenting Poe in lieu of turning to her and asking, “Yes, Miss Niima?”

“You can do that?” she asked all innocently.

He was taken back. “Miss Niima, in my classroom, my rules take precede—“

“No, I mean, you can read? I didn’t realise that cavemen knew the alphabet.”

If the entire class wasn’t already engaged in watching Poe be singled out, they certainly were paying attention now; someone just casually insulting their homeroom teacher was not something that happened everyday. Every whisper fell silent as the entire class turned to look directly at Ackbar, who was looking directly at her. His expression was unreadable, but whatever it was, it wasn’t good. 

Next to her, Rose put her head in her hands, shaking her head with not just disappointment but frustration at the fact that her best friend had zero self-control when it came to mouthing off. And she didn’t blame her; sometimes she couldn’t stand herself either. Her mouth and lack of control were the blessing and curse that came with being the resident smart-ass. 

She knew damn well that this time, she didn’t even bother trying to carefully tread into subtle insults; she plunged head-first in a territory that no student dared to go unless they had nothing to lose. She went beyond disrespectful.Yet she had zero desire to stop and apologise. 

_ I’m already neck deep,  _ she thought.  _ Might as well finish it now.  _

“I mean, you’d think that as a history teacher, you’d know that the first “true” alphabet was invented by the Greeks in 8 BCE. It sounds to us like you’re being a huge hypocrite for berating Mr. Dameron for not paying attention when you yourself didn’t and now don’t know shit.”

Another silent shock rang through the class, along with a few quiet laughs and a gasp. Ackbar’s expression remained neutral, but she knew that he was fuming by the way the grip on his coffee mug tightened.  _ Good,  _ she thought to herself as she glanced over at Poe, who was still shaken up but doing better now that all the attention was on her. 

_ Thanks,  _ he mouthed at her.

She subtly nodded in return before putting her focus back at the circus attraction she had created. Ackbar’s neutral face was still there, but he was starting to turn a shade of angry beet-red. “Miss Niima, I strongly suggest that you heed your next words. It’s not wise to start off the impending year on the wrong foot.”

“And I’m surprised that both of yours are still properly attached. They must have done a good job with the attachment portion in the lab. I do have to ask though, did your neck not hurt from snapping up so quickly? I’m quite sure that your doctor would strongly advise against sudden movements. After all, they have a limited supply of ligaments down at the emergency room, and I don’t think your insurance would be too happy at constantly negotiating the cost of prehistoric restoration.”

More laughter was heard this time as the beet-red deepened into a magenta. She didn’t even let him finish before she came in with the kill. 

“But hey, good news! If teaching doesn’t work out, you could be the next angry carnivore in the Jurassic Park reboot!” 

The classroom roared with laughter. That did it for Ackbar, who looked her dead in the eye and said, “Detention. After school. And I  _ will  _ be calling your parent or guardian.” 

“Oh no, I’m so scared.” she said in a flat tone. 

“You should be. Pack your bag. You’re spending the rest of the period in the office.”

She didn’t need to be told twice. She grabbed her bag, walked up the aisle of desks, opened the door, and took a deep bow. 

“Thank you! You all have been such a great audience tonight! I’ll be here every day from 8 to 8:45 if you’d like an autograph !”

She left it at that and walked out as her classmates started clapping and cheering for her. She smiled, knowing that Ackbar would be furious that she had turned his punishment into a joke, but it didn’t matter; as long as her friends were fine. At the same time, she was filled with a sense of awe of what she had done. Never in the last 12 years had she ever been so bold to openly belittle a teacher with her sarcasm and bitter nature. Yes, every parent-teacher conference had been filled with the same comments of “too much sarcasm” and “smart but spends more time questioning authority and using disrespectful sarcasm”, but never had she actively gone after a teacher like that. It was probably horrible for her and her spotless record, but what could be done about it now? 

She could still faintly hear the chaos of her homeroom halfway down the hall when her phone buzzed with two messages: Poe and Rose.

**Poe: i mean, you didn’t have to go off that hard but i appreciate it :)**

**Rose: You have got to be the biggest idiot I’ve ever met, and I’m RELATED to Paige**

Ah, how she loved her friends. 

She typed back to Poe,

**Rey: i don’t think the mesopotamian relic will bother you any time soon**

**Poe: nor will anyone else**

**Poe: you’re already being branded as fearless**

**Rey: fearless???**

**Poe: ya people have mad respect for you after your stunt**

**Poe: keep it up and taylor swift’s record company is about to hit you with a copyright strike because of your name**

**Rey: omg taylor notice me pls i love ha**

**Poe: best friend famous**

**Poe: remember me when i'm homeless**

**Rey: i never forget my fans**

**Rey: anyways i gotta go i’ll text you after i explain to amilyn why i’ve managed to invoke the wrath of the rip off king tut**

**Poe: god save the queen**

**Poe: give her a hug for me i haven’t seen her in months**

Then she responded to Rose,

**Rey: i told you**

**Rose: What sends me is the fact that you’ve forever ruined his control of homeroom**

**Rose: I’m surprised he didn’t suspend you**

**Rey: wait really omg my power >>>**

**Rey: and honestly me too but he needed a taste of his own medicine**

**Rose: I’m still shaking my head at you**

**Rose: But I’m also proud to call you my best friend**

**Rey: :D**

**Rose: Honestly now I question on how he still has a job**

**Rey: you’re not alone**

**Rey: even amilyn and the office ladies are taking bets on how long it takes before he either retires, reigns, or gets fired**

**Rose: Wait really? How do you know this?**

**Rey: you’ve forgotten who was my former caretaker/one of the only people in the world i trust**

**Rey: also i’m in the pool**

**Rey: $20 for resignation by christmas break**

**Rose: Oh right**

**Rose: Also I hate you, you know that?**

**Rey: love you too**

**Rey: uh oh, amilyn’s giving me that look through the office window**

**Rose: F**

**Rose: But makes sense since he made a big show about calling the office to tell them about your “horrendous, unruly behavior”**

**Rose: Then he tried to tell us that he doesn’t tolerate misbehaviour and will swiftly deal with any form of it**

**Rey: son of a bitch**

**Rey: lmao better he calls amilyn than try and call unkar**

**Rose: Does Unkar even have a phone?**

**Rose: N e ways if you die can I have your car**

**Rey: i have no idea but i don’t think he’d appreciate getting calls from the school because that means the social workers have to come by**

**Rey: also fat chance only my supporters can have my car**

**Rose: >:( **

**Rey: :)**

The lecturing voice was the first thing to greet her upon entering the office, “How did you manage to be sent to detention before 8:30?”

“What can I say? It’s a gift.” she responded as she plopped herself in the other spinning chair behind Amilyn’s desk. 

The stern, middle-aged woman sighed and stopped typing. Now she felt bad, because she knew that Amilyn probably had to play mediator. “Rey, you know what I’m going to say.”

“Yeah yeah, I know Amilyn.”

“Then why did you do it? What did you stand to gain from this?”

“My new brand.” she joked. “But seriously, he had it coming. He was picking on Poe, who he KNEW had major anxiety issues, yet he still did it. He put him on the spot and got the entire class to stare at him. You just don’t do that; that’s asshole behaviour.”

Shaking her head again, Amilyn looked around the empty office before she resumed typing on her computer. “This doesn’t leave this office.” and she gave Rey a pointed look until she shook her head in agreement. “But the number of complaints I get from parents on a daily basis is astronomical. We’ve had to set up a separate contact email as damage control for the number of angry parents that spill into our inboxes.”

Then she looked at Rey, “Why am I even telling you all this? I’m asking to be fired.”

“You tell me because you’re the best person on this planet.” Rey said as she opened the mini fridge behind the desk to grab a bottled coffee, “But why hasn’t the school fired him? That amount of complaints should warrant an investigation at the least.”

“He’s been here for so long, they don’t even think it’s worth terminating him. The district figured that it’d be easier and cheaper for them to just let him retire.”

“Well I’ve got news for them: it’s not working.” she said after a swig of coffee. 

Amilyn pursed her lips, “It is what it is. Also, what did I say about drinking my coffees?”

“You despise mocha.”

“Fair enough.” she sighed, “Just don’t make it a habit.”

Rey nodded, and they sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes before she had to ask the burning question. 

“Am I still in trouble?”

“No. Thankfully, I’ve managed to convince Ackbar that your verbal outburst didn’t warrant a suspension.” Rey’s heart sank further with guilt at the fact that Amilyn had to play both mediator  _ and  _ negotiator. “But you’re still in detention; that was something that I can’t argue you out of because you told him that he’d be an…angry carnivore in a Jurassic Park reboot?” she asked as she read it off of a sticky-note. 

She grinned. That had to be one of the best off-the-top-of-her-head insults she had ever used. 

Amilyn tried to be stern but failed within five seconds.

“Alright, that was honestly really clever and you didn’t hear it from me, but I found it absolutely hilarious. Just don’t do it again, ‘kay?”

She nodded as she took another swig and spun around in the chair. What a relief: her record wasn’t going to be tarnished. In fact, this only made her semi-victory sweeter. 

Take that, Ackbar. 

With the partial elation from current events, she spent the rest of the period chatting with Amilyn until the bell rang, signaling the start of passing period. 

“Please don’t do anything else to get yourself suspended.” Amilyn said, sounding more motherly by the minute. 

“No promises.”

“At least you can try. And Rey...you know that you can still come back at any time if you need to? I know it’s not the same as Maz’s....”

“You’ve been more than generous with me.” she quickly interrupted, not wanting to talk about Maz or Amilyn or how she probably made both of their lives miserable by being such a shitty child. “I’ll be fine.”

She gave a weak smile then pushed the office door open to get out of talking about it. Right outside the door, she ran into Poe and Rose, who seemed to have been here for quite a while. 

“How long were you two waiting out here?” she asked as soon as the door shut behind her. 

“Never mind that! How much trouble are you in?” Rose asked, face full of concern. 

“None, unless you count the original detention.”

“None?!”

Poe grinned. “The devil works hard but Amilyn Holdo works harder.” 

“Period.”

The three of them chatted briefly until they split ways as she headed up the stairs to Advanced Humanities. Now that all her classes were writing or writing-based and the teachers were chill, strict but fair, and  _ not  _ belittling students for breathing, she felt more at ease and the rest of the morning passed by in a blur. This was more like it; this is how senior year should be. 

By the time the lunch bell rang, she was feeling , where she met up with Poe, Rose, and Kaydel---the fourth member of the quartet---and, as usual, they went out. The entire time, Poe was too busy telling Kaydel about homeroom, with Rose briefly piping in with comments like, “That didn’t happen” or “No, she said...” and Rey just sat there, once again basking in her smug glory. 

Just like the rest of her morning, the afternoon flew by after lunch. And she was in a good mood: all of her classes were great, her teachers were better, and the people she didn’t expect to like were much kinder than she thought they would be. So when the dismissal bell rang at 3, she was in good spirits. Until she tried to leave to go to her car. That’s when all the trouble in her life started. 

The quartet was walking to the main doors to leave, as usual, when they noticed that someone was standing in front of them: Ackbar.

Rey’s entire mood tanked right then and there. She had completely forgotten she had detention. She tried to slide past, feigning ignorance, but this old man pretty much barred all of them from leaving by using his arms to block the other two doors. “Perhaps you forgot, Miss Niima, but you have been assigned after school detention.”

“Fuck me,” she muttered under her breath. She just wanted to go home and crawl into bed but nope. She had to spend an hour in detention. 

“Language, Miss Niima.”

She resisted rolling her eyes. 

“I expect you in my room at 3:10 sharp, Miss Niima. Otherwise I will be extending your detention and adding an additional 30 minutes for tomorrow.”

He turned and walked away. As soon as he was out of earshot, Kaydel said, “Language? Seriously? No wonder you went off on him.”

“I can’t stand him. No one can stand him. I hate that I have to see that face every morning.”

“And detention in his room? I pray for you.” Poe said. 

“Yup. Now every morning I can stew in my raging hatred against that sack of bones as I do whatever homework I didn’t finish the night before.”

“Hey, positive thoughts. At least you have two of us in there,” Rose reminded, “and detention won’t be the end of the world; just do the brainstorming for all those writing assignments that you got today. The hour will pass quickly as long as you keep yourself occupied. ”

“True,” Rey sighed. What would all of them be doing without Rose’s positivity and level-head? “I just hate it. An hour of being surrounded by...oh wait. No one. Because no one besides that hag hands out detention on the first day.”

“You want us to wait for you?” Poe asked.

“No, just go ahead. I’ll just meet you guys at Shake Shack after I get out of federal prison.”

They nodded, and there were quick hugs before they left. With a sigh and two minutes left, she solemnly walked to detention. She was really trying to manifest in the idea of knocking out all her brainstorming for the creative writing assignments she had and was trying to remain optimistic despite the looming reality that she was stuck in Ackbar’s room for an hour. 

When she reached his room, she hesitated before opening the door as a dreadful feeling built up in the back of her mind. Despite the fact that there was probably nothing to worry about, there was something nagging at her. Almost like a warning. 

She almost debated on running to her car and driving off and taking the additional punishment for tomorrow, but in the end she decided against it and just pushed the door open. 

If only she knew how right she was and just ran away. Why? Because the second that door opened, everything went wrong. 

As soon as she walked into detention, she noticed that someone else was sitting in the room. Relief coursed through her at the fact that she wasn’t the only one who had been given detention on the first. Then her brain caught up with her eyes, immediately flashing warnings and screeching to a halt once it realised who was sitting in the seat. 

Her detention buddy was Benjamin Solo, the boy she’d hated since middle school. 

Out of all the words in the English dictionary, there was no combination that could describe the raging hatred she felt about him. Ever since the unfortunate incident in middle school, everything about him made her skin crawl and triggered her gag reflex; she had zero tolerance for womanising jackasses like him. She couldn’t even begin to list off all the reasons she hated him because she’d spend the rest of her life going on about the topic. Better to ignore than to dwell. 

But, strangely, no one seemed to share even a fraction of the hatred she had for him. In fact, it seemed like she was the only person who didn’t view him as some angelic creature; even her own friends tried to say “Well he’s not that bad!” and even hinted about letting her grudges go. Yeah, fat chance of that happening. Thank goodness for Poe, who was the only one who seemed to understand (and even share) her hatred.

So in the doorway she stood, feeling like she wanted to throw up and cry at the same time. An hour in the same room as Ben Solo? She hated it here. She should have just ran away when she got the chance. 

The putrid creature looked up to see who had walked in, and for a brief second he looked shocked, but he quickly recovered and had the nerve to give her his famous grin. The one that girls would sell their souls for a chance for him to flash one at them. “Well well well, if it isn’t Fearless. How you doin’?”

Every ounce of her wanted to plant her fist in his smug face. Yeah, he had that hot-bad-boy aura and more money than anyone could imagine, but who cared? He was a scumbag and didn’t deserve any of her attention. 

So naturally, she ignored him and scanned the room, trying to see which seat was the furthest away from him. No way was she going to make this more difficult for herself by sitting anywhere near him. 

“Welcome, Miss Niima.” Ackbar said. “Please take a seat at the desk next to Mr. Solo.”

God damn it. That threw a wrench in all her plans. 

She begrudgingly set her stuff down and sat at the desk next to him, ignoring him the entire time as Ackbar went over the rules of detention. It’s not like they were a secret: no talking, no eating or gum chewing, bathroom trips cannot exceed 10 minutes, work on homework, no cell phone usage “Unless you would like to listen to music as you work, then I will allow it this time as long as the device remains on the desk and unused”, yada yada yada. And he also made it a point to tell both of them, “Please, no....behaviour that you wouldn’t want your parents to see.”

Seriously? As if she’d be this close to him if she was given the choice. 

She came into detention with the expectation that she’d be spending an hour in solitude and getting some work done. Now, she had a completely new battle of just trying to get through even ten minutes without punching the person sitting next to her. She secretly hoped that he would be intimidated by Ackbar and would leave her alone for the hour. 

But luck was never on her side. As soon as Ackbar stopped talking and became absorbed in the book in front of him, the specimen beside her decided to act up. 

“You know, I gotta hand it to you: it takes guts to stand up to authority. And there’s nothing I love more in a girl than a spicy attitude and moxie.”

She ignored him and dug out everything she needed to spend the next hour in hell. She shoved in her earbuds and tried to work, but it was difficult when he leaned his fat head over to be a Nosy Nancy. 

His “Whatcha workin’ on?” could be heard through her  _ very  _ loud Tame Impala. 

He was just like the annoying people on public transit who try to strike up a conversation even though they know that she had headphones in. She tried to turn up her music even louder to drown him out, but even with the sound gone, his physical presence bothered her endlessly. He had this annoying habit of shifting her paper to see what she was working on, and after 5 minutes she had to give up. It was impossible to work in these conditions; his very existence was a parasite to hard-workers and brain cells everywhere. Slamming her pencil down, she took out an earbud and whispered, “Can I fucking help you?” with a lot more venom in her voice than usual, hoping that Ackbar would hear her and move her elsewhere. 

Nope. The old scag was too absorbed in his reading and had practically left the room with how out-of-touch he was with the events happening right in front of him. With zero response from Ackbar, Ben flashed another stupid smile and responded, “Relax, I’m just interested in what you’re doing.”

“You talk like you have any other interests besides unzipping your pants and hair gel.”

Apparently no one else seemed to speak to him this way because he was actually taken aback by her abruptness. Good. She hoped he was bothered and would leave her alone. But he kept talking, pretending like he wasn’t phased at all.

“On the contrary, I am a man of many interests, Rey. Running, eating, acquiring knowledge on what you’re doing right now. I could go on forever.”

“And my only interest is for you to shut the fuck up.”

“Usually, your wish is my command, but annoyance looks really good on you. If I wasn’t already busy tonight, I’d ask to see more.” he said with a stupid wink. 

_ Oh my god.  _ That was the only thought in her head. 

“Tonight? Fat chance. I’d rather be stomped on, ran over, stuck in a lion enclosure, and buried alive before I’d touch you with a thirty foot pole.”

“Kinky.”

Well, that did it for her. She didn’t bother with organising as she heaped her papers and folders into her bag and got up to leave the room. She just needed to get out of here as fast as she could. 

“Miss Niima, where do you think you’re going?” Ackbar asked her as soon as she reached the door.

Oh so  _ now  _ the old geezer was paying attention. She whipped around, “Mr. Ackbar, there is  _ no way  _ I am sitting in the same room as that _ vile, annoying, self-absorbed piece of shit _ !” 

“Ouch.” she heard Ben say as she opened the door and stormed out in anger. She didn’t care what other punishments were tacked onto her; she needed to get out of that room before she combusted. She stormed through the halls and was about to push open the main doors when a red glow started to emit from above her. She looked up. 

**_Your soulmate says: Stay in detention._ **

She staggered back at the sudden appearance. Anger shifted to confusion as she reread the glowing words. Soulmate? What? Who could be her soulmate in this school? And stay in detention? Who even knew she was in detention? Her best friends, Ackbar, Ben Solo…

_ Ben Solo.  _

No. There was no way. She refused to believe it. There was absolutely no way that the biggest egomaniac in school could be her soulmate. 

“Ah, but he is, Miss Niima.” Ackbar’s voice floated from behind her.

She jumped at the sudden sound and turned around to see that the preserved fossil had followed her to the front door. Great. 

“It’s more than just creepy and concerning that you followed me this entire way without saying a word.”

“Well, Miss Niima, I was originally going to just let you go and assign a detention tomorrow, but as soon as you left, a blue glow appeared above Mr. Solo’s head, and I was intrigued by what his choice would be.”

“His choice?!”

Ackbar looked at her with an almost-sorry expression on his face. “Perhaps it would be better if you’d come back to the room so I could properly explain to both of you what this means. 

Her brain was screaming for her to ignore him, to push the door open and run to her car to drive away from here as fast as possible. There was no way that she was going to be associated or connected to Ben Solo in any way possible. 

But she was too stunned to make any logical decisions; it was almost like her brain had been cut off from the rest of her body in the haze of confusion that was clouding her. So she followed Ackbar back to his room, unable to process anything that was happening. 

She plopped down in a seat that was far away from him and just continued to zone off until a rapping sound brought her back to Earth. 

“Well, there’s really no way to easily explain this, so I’ll be blunt: you two are soulmates.”

Their reactions could not have been more different. 

“No we’re not!” she cried defensively, her fight-or-flight instinct kicking in. 

“Yes we are.” Ben responded, that stupid smile popping on his face again. 

“Mr. Solo is correct: you two are. And with this pairing, you’re now given the chance to make choices for your soulmate, as evidenced by what just happened between you two.”

“So you’re telling me that all of my choices,  _ my life choices _ , are in the hands of a boy who doesn’t know the difference between his left and right?”

Ben chuckled, “Damn.”

“Not all choices, Miss Niima. Just ones that the fates who blessed you with this pairing believe that your soulmate is more than capable of choosing for you.”

“Blessed?!” she practically screamed, “You think this is a blessing? It’s the worst thing that’s happened to me! I’m practically shackled to an idiot for the rest of my life!”

“But Miss Niima, it is a blessing. People would and have given up everything they have for a chance to have the fates show them their soulmate. In fact, the last time I saw this happen was...well...let’s just say it was quite similar to how you two are right now.”

She didn’t really care about when it last happened. She just refused to believe it. Yes, denial was a bad habit, but for something like this? It was the only response she had, besides giving Ben the nastiest look she could muster up---her death face, as everyone called it---which he answered with a smile.

Ackbar chuckled “Ah, and an odd pairing, too.” 

All she could do now was fake a smile at Ackbar before turning to Ben and flipping him off with the same smile, then resuming her death face. Then she grabbed her stuff, stomped to the back of the room, and plopped herself in one of the back row desks. She gave Ackbar a look of “I-dare-you-to-tell-me-to-move”, and he must have taken pity on her, because all he said was, “No more talking.”

With that, she shoved her earbuds in and went back to working. Finally. It was her one chance to forget what had just happened and she jumped on it, putting pencil to paper. She became so absorbed in her brainstorming that she didn’t notice what time it was until someone tapped on her shoulder. 

She looked up to see Ackbar standing by her desk. She took out an earbud, “Yes?”

“Well, Miss Niima, your detention hour is up. You’re free to go.”

God bless. She shoved her stuff into her bag and shoved her earbuds back in, practically skipping to the door. Just as she approached the doorway, a blue light glowed above her head. She looked up and read:

**_Choose for your soulmate:_ **

**_Stay longer in detention Join me to leave_ **

For a minute she just stared at what was above her head. So it was her choice now? Wonderful. It would be an easy one. 

She pointed at  **_Stay longer in detention_ ** then turned around to see a red glowing light above Ben’s head with the words: 

**_Your soulmate says: Stay longer in detention_ **

Ben sat there, confounded, as he read the words then yelled, “Hey!”

She blew him a kiss and waved as she walked out of the classroom. Once a good distance away from the classroom, she broke into a sprint. She dashed through the halls, out the doors, down the front steps, and across the parking lot until she reached her car. Fumbling with the keys, she unlocked the car and got in as quick as she could, throwing her bag in the back and starting the ignition, almost stepping on it as she drove out of the lot as fast as she legally could. 

It was only when she was halfway to Shake Shack that shock had worn off and disbelief was once again settling in. She just couldn’t believe it: Somehow within the span of one detention, her entire fucking life had just been flipped upside down like *that*; she was living a Wattpad fanfic life. Except there wasn’t going to be a happy ending for her. 

She wanted to deliver a sincere “Fuck you” to whatever divine being, fate, or fucknot that was in charge of making them soulmates. Seriously. This wasn’t funny anymore. And especially with the “your soulmate chooses” bullshit? Nope, she wasn’t having it. 

Pulling into the Shake Shack lot, she tried to subside her anger for the sake of her friends, but she just couldn’t. Sighing, she got out and headed in. They’d seen her at her worst before. 

Her friends were situated in their usual spot: a corner booth that was nearby the order counter. As soon as Rose spotted her, she frantically waved at her. 

“How bad was it?” Poe asked as she slid in next to Kaydel.

She couldn’t even utter words at that point. So she just opted to glumly sit. 

“That bad?” Kaydel asked. 

“The only peak was I got work done. Other than that? My entire life is a joke.” she sighed as she stared at the menu sign, deciding what to order. 

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Rose give a questioning look to Poe and Kaydel. That gesture really ticked her off; secrets between other friends was not something she handled very well. “You know, Rose, if there’s something you need to say then you should say it.”

Not bothering to wait for an answer, she stood up to go order. While waiting, she leaned up against a wall by the pick-up counter so she could semi-privately think. She still didn’t understand this soulmate business and she never would. All she really understood was that sometimes she got to make choices for Ben Solo and other times he got to make choices for her. 

Actually, now that she had some head space to think about it, that was bad. Like, really bad. With their track record, they’d be hellbent on doing anything to make the other miserable. That and everything she’d work for the last three years could all go down the drain because of some underlying pettiness that Ben was harbouring. 

So much for a good senior year.

When she plopped back in the booth with her food, she tried to pretend she was fine by taking a bite. Unfortunately, her stomach was not cooperating; not when her brain was racing a million miles and muddled at the same time. She ended up picking at her fries for a while (and letting Poe steal some) before she looked up and saw that all three of her friends were staring at her. 

“What?” she asked. 

Rose bluntly asked, “Rey, what happened in detention?”

Rey bit the inside of her cheek, stuck between wanting to tell them everything and not wanting to say anything at all. But did she really want to hash out everything? Especially after realising that her entire life could be unravelled at the hands of a hormone-driven 17-year old? 

“Nothing. I’m just tired, that’s all.”

Poe snorted while Rose and Kaydel suppressed a look. She temporarily felt stupid, thinking that she could just pull this one past them. Of course none of them believed it; she was a horrible liar. 

“You never pick at your food. What happened? Are you okay?” Kaydel asked. 

“Did Ackbar do anything to you?” Poe asked, anger creeping into his voice, “because if he did I’m going to kick his ass.”

“No, nothing happened with Ackbar. It’s just...it’s a...I don’t know if you’re going to believe what actually happened.” she said, staring vacantly at her burger. 

“Ma’am, we’ve been friends for what, over 12 years? I’ve seen you through bright pink braces, awkward crushes, the pastel nightmare of patterned leggings, and a mullet haircut. Nothing phases me now.” Poe said 

Kaydel and Rose nodded. “Not quite as long as Poe, but 7 years is a long time for us to get used to you. Trust me when I say that nothing will faze us.” Rose said. 

Well, here went nothing. “I’m somehow soulmates with Ben Solo.” she blurted out. 

The “Cut the cameras, deadass” meme was the only way she could describe how her friends reacted. They stared at her like she had grown a third eye and started spewing gibberish. 

“Oooookay, scratch that. Something  _ can  _ faze us.” Kaydel said. 

Poe just stared dumbfoundedly, “Explain. Now.”

She sighed and started with the moment she walked into detention. The three of them hung on every word as she told them the whole tale: having to sit next to him, being annoyed, storming out, the glowing red words, Ackbar taking her back to detention to explain, refusing to believe it, working, the blue words, choosing for Ben, then leaving.

No words came out of anyone’s mouth besides a quiet “Holy shit” from Kaydel. Rey went back to staring at her food while her friends just stared off into space, all of them unable to process what was going on. 

Rose was the first one to break the silence. “So you’re soulmates with Ben Solo. The Ben Solo that you have been non-stop complaining about since middle school.”

There was a *thunk* sound. It came from Rey as she plopped her face on the table, letting out an irritated groan. It sounded even worse coming out of someone else’s mouth. “Guys, I can’t do this anymore. A literal  _ day  _ of senior year and everything has officially gone to shit.”

“I really just don’t know what I’m supposed to say. Because I can’t give reassurances about something I have no idea existed until now.” Poe said, a blank expression across his face. 

The four of them sat in silence again until Rose’s phone loudly rang, startling them from their shared trance. As she walked away to take a call, the three of them resumed the silence until Rose returned and joined them. 

“Well...I suppose we should get out of here before we get banned for hogging a booth for 4 hours.” Rose said. 

“Yeah,” Poe jumped in, “what should we do? It’s a Friday night and it’s our last free weekend before admissions season swamps us.”

“Whatever we do, can it  _ please  _ involve nothing fictional or fictional sounding? I feel like I’m living a shitty fanfic life and the author is hellbent on making it worse for me.” Rey almost begged. 

Kaydel smiled dryly, “Does frozen yogurt and a Law and Order marathon at my house sound fantasy-free enough for you?”

“More than I could ask for.”

“Score. We can take my car and I’ll drop you all off back here when we’re done.” 

Settled on a plan, the four of them packed up their leftovers and were on their way out. Just as she reached the door to push it open, Poe yelled “What the fuck?!” from behind her. 

She turned around to see him staring and pointing above her head, mouth gaping like a goldfish. She turned to see Rose and Kaydel in the same state of shock, then realised that the entire restaurant had stopped to stare at whatever was above her head; even the kitchen employees were sticking their heads out the little window. 

As soon as she looked up, the irritation and anger that had been simmering inside her came to a full-on boil. Right above her head were the stupid red lights and the irritating words:

**_Your soulmate says: Go home_ **

Of course. How else could her night be further ruined?

“C’mon.” she said to her friends as she pushed through the door, not even bothering to wait for them. She just needed to get out of there before she did something stupid. 

They scrambled to catch up, and four of them walked to Kaydel’s car, distracted. The other three were in another state of shock, while Rey was absolutely fuming internally.  _ I cannot believe he thinks my life is a fucking game that he can play! _

Soulmate be damned, there was no way he was going to be ruining a nice Friday night with her friends. She’d be getting her frozen yogurt, Law and Order marathon, and the serotonin she desperately needed, whether the fates liked it or not!

Apparently the fates were opposed to rebellion, because as soon as she grabbed the door handle to the backseat, a terrible burning sensation travelled up her arm from her hand. She yelped and snatched her hand away, instinctively blowing on it. When the pain subsided enough for her to stop blowing, she examined her hand. No sign of any kind of burn. Weird, because there was no denying the shrieking pain that she felt. 

“What happened?” Kaydel asked. “Why did you yell?”

“I don’t know! I just touched the door handle and it burned so badly I had to let go!”

They looked at her like she was spewing gibberish. But Poe tentatively grabbed the handle and yanked the door open, with no reaction coming out of him.

“It works fine for me. Maybe you got shocked by the car?”

“I don’t know, but I’m not touching another door handle.” she said, sliding into the backseat. 

She didn’t know if the handle was a fluke, but there was no reaction to touching the seat. So the rest of them climbed in like nothing happened (although she noticed that her friends were cautiously touching everything in Kaydel’s car). Huh, maybe it was a fluke. 

Nope. 

As soon as Kaydel shut the driver’s door, the entire seat underneath her sent the same burning sensation throughout her entire backside. She screamed and fumbled with the handle until she shoved the car door open. The pain didn’t subside until she was a good distance away from the car, and even then, the shock of feeling so much at once left her body feeling like it had been dragged through Hell and back. 

All of her friends scrambled out. “Oh my god, Rey! You’re glowing red!” Rose screamed. 

She looked down at her body. Sure enough, there was a faint red glow around her that was already starting to fade quickly, along with the rest of the pain. 

“This cannot get any worse, can it?” she asked, voice thick with tears. It was hard to not cry, between the pain and the emotional exhaustion, but she was not going to break down in the middle of the Shake Shack parking lot. 

None of them had an answer. Instead, they walked over and gathered her into a group hug. 

“Well, it looks like tonight is out of the question.” Poe said, stating the obvious. 

Guilt immediately weighed her down. This stupid soulmate stuff was starting to impact her friends already. “Guys, I’m really sorry. I--”

“Why are you apologising? It’s not your fault. It’s no ones fault, except the stupid fates that the old bat talked about. In fact, they can go fuck themselves.” Kaydel said. 

“We could just go back to your house,” Poe offered, “Maybe order a pizza or something?”

But the fun had already been drained out of her the minute that ignoring her soulmate’s choices started causing her pain. “I’m going home. You guys enjoy your night.”

Rose didn’t seem convinced. “Are you sure? At least let us drive back home with you so that you aren’t alone.”

Rey shrugged. “I mean, it doesn’t matter to me.”

“I’ll take my car so you two can ride with Rey and I can take you all back here.” Poe said.

They nodded and split off to their respective cars. Sounded foolproof, since she was still following the stupid orders of her even stupider soulmate, right?

Wrong. In fact, it was almost like everything she did was wrong because as soon as Rose opened the passenger door, her entire car passed on that burning feeling. Again, she screamed and jumped out to get rid of the pain, the red glow surrounding her again, while Rose slammed the door shut and jumped back. 

Poe ran over from his car at the sound of her scream. “Again?!”

That was it. She had enough. He won this time. “Guys, just go enjoy your night. I’m going home.”

Heavy with defeat, she glumly got into her car and drove home, choking on tears. As soon as she got home, she checked to see if Unkar was passed out in his shop (as usual, thank god), and she tiptoed past and legged it up the stairs to her room before she started crying. 

She flopped face-first onto her bed and just let out all the sobs: frustrated, angry, upset, confused; the whole negative emotional spectrum was coming out tonight. 

It was god awful. Her freedom had been robbed from her tonight all because a shitty boy made a shitty choice for her. How was she supposed to live like this? 

She didn’t know how long she cried, but she cried enough to lull her into a shitty state of sleep. Thank god. Now she could knock out for a while and pretend her life wasn’t a travelling circus that was derailing by the minute. 

But even as she welcomed sleep, she had one last thought: the next time she saw Ben Solo, she was going to punch him in his pretty little face. Hard. 


End file.
